The Temagami geophysical anomaly (Ontario, Canada): geological cause and relationship to the 1.85 Ga Sudbury impact event

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hartwig E. Frimmel
• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
• Term: from 2019 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 418960271

This project attempts to explain the ultimate geological cause of one of the largest, hitherto unexplained, magnetic anomalies in North America, the Temagami geophysical anomaly in Ontario, Canada. The anomaly is of outstanding scientific and economic interest because it is directly adjacent to the 1.85 Ga Sudbury Complex - the second largest impact structure on Earth and one of the world’s richest mining districts thanks to widespread Ni-Cu-PGE-sulfide mineralization. The Temagami Anomaly mirrors the magnetic anomaly caused by the Sudbury Complex in terms of shape, size and intensity. Lack of outcrops and, until recently, of bore holes, prevented a proper geological understanding, and whatever genetic link with the Sudbury Complex has remained pure speculation. Preliminary petrological studies by the applicant and the anticipated project scientist (PhD student) on the first deep drill hole sunk into the centre of the Temagami Anomaly revealed the presence of dioritic rocks at 2 km depth, which bear similarities with offset dykes in and around the Sudbury Complex. This raises the possibility of a genetic link with the Sudbury impact event, which if proved correct, would open up an entirely new perspective on our understanding of the Sudbury Complex and its exploration potential. Thus, the principal aim of this project is to test for such a genetic link and to provide a geological explanation for the geophysical anomaly by comparing new data on the petrology, alteration history, geochemistry, isotopic composition and geochronology to be acquired from drill core and surface samples from the area of the Temagami Anomaly with available data on the Sudbury Complex and potentially equivalent rocks in the wider region. This will include layered mafic and ultramafic intrusions, mafic dyke swarms, carbonatite stocks, and sedimentary iron formations, all of which occur in the area, bear significant economic potential, and could be possible candidates for the observed magnetic anomaly. Our preliminary observations revealed also widespread hydrothermal alteration and brecciation, whose origin and bearing on the magnetic anomaly is unclear. Thus, a further goal of the project will be to characterize this alteration and to establish its significance in terms of the cause of the Temagami Anomaly, the genesis of the Sudbury structure and the metallogeny of the area.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants